Virtual or Reality?
by Koji Inari
Summary: The Virtual Dome offers the the best in the virtual reality experience. But for Riku, there is only one thing he want's out of it. And he's tall, blonde, and handsome. [RikuXCloud, lemon later]


**Title**: Virtual or Reality?

**Rating**: M

**Warning**: Yaoi, lemons, complete twisting and strangling of the original Kingdom Hearts plot.

**Music**: Switchfoot: Meant to live

**Disclaimer**: I own a PS2, a cat, and a box of Gobstoppers….but not Square Enix, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or anything connected to any of those things. But when I make my own manga/anime, I'll write fan fiction about it, because I'm cool like that. Then I can cut out these stupid disclaimers, and put in a claimer that says "HA! I DO OWN IT! SUCK ON THAT!"

**Prompt**: Virtual Reality

**Virtual or Reality?**

**Chapter 1**

If there was one thing Riku loved, it was the Virtual Dome.

The Virtual Dome was a relatively new thing to Destiny Islands, a tool for big business to edge its way into the small community's economy. While some viewed it as bad, others (such as Riku) viewed it as a release for the poor, bored islanders. It was favored by the teens more than the adults. Most of those older than Riku found it repulsive, and thought their kids should spend more time out doors, fishing or swimming and playing. But any teenager would tell you that the Virtual Dome was much, much more interesting.

You see, the Virtual Dome, or VD as it was popularly called, was a large community center where, for the right price, a person could live out their wildest fantasies.

The most commonly known of these? Kingdom Hearts, a multiplayer game of such dimensions that anyone would immediately tell you it was real. Ansem, a scientist from the mainland, created it. Through his work, a world much more vast and exciting than any online game had been created. The main idea of the game was to defeat the Heartless, computer generated creatures out to destroy the worlds. After a few years a new threat developed, Organization XIII.

Organization XIII were the thirteen most famed players in all of VD history, and player killers. No one had ever defeated them. Riku had tried, several times. On days when his blood had boiled for adventure, he would take his membership card to the VD, swipe it, and sit down in one of the soft leather chairs to wait for his mind to be transported to the virtual world.

That was where the VD was amazing, where it surpassed any other technology ever created. It didn't just make you believe you were in a virtual world, you actually _were_. Just by going you could get an entire workout, you could eat, and would be full when you woke up. The only thing you couldn't do was die, or get hurt. If your character lost three lives, you were kicked out of the world and downloaded back to the real world, where you would have to wait until the next day to log in again.

But dieing was seriously hard to do unless you were attacked by a player killer. The game was designed with enough safety measures to keep the players _in_ the game, and money in the manufacturer's pocket. Not that Riku minded, as long as he was having fun, they could take his money.

So it was on a hot, typical summer day that Riku found his feet carrying him to the dome. He was with his friends, Sora and Kairi, who had just recently bought memberships to the game.

"I'm sooo excited!" Sora was saying, walking backwards down the street. Kairi and Riku were walking behind him. "My first drop, and only a few days from my birthday!"

Kairi giggled. "Calm down Sora. Don't hurt yourself."

"And stick by me in the game." Riku smirked and walked faster to get in front of his bouncy brunet friend. "With the way you act, you'd attract noob killers in no time."

Sora blinked. "What's a noob?"

Riku could only laugh. "Exactly my point. Don't want you getting killed on your first day right? I'll stick with you, keep you safe."

"I can take care of myself." Sora said, spinning around to walk normally. "I don't _need_ your help.

Riku shrugged. "Fine, but come and find me if you want help ok?" He reached out and ruffled Sora's hair up, making the brunet swat his hand away.

"Yeah yeah…Oh look! We're here!" Sora jumped and ran toward the building. Anyone could see he was eager. It reminded Riku of his first day to the dome.

"Heh, race ya!" Riku called to Kairi, then took off running. Kairi laughed and ran after him, not coming anywhere near close to catching up to him.

Finally, they made it to the building. Sora was staring up at the sign over the large, glass door with a look of utter awe. "I can't believe we're actually going in."

"Yeah, well, get in then," Riku pushed Sora toward the doors with a grin. "You won't get anywhere sitting out here!"

As the three friends entered the building, they were greeted by a woman with a friendly, albeit fake, smile. "Hello! Welcome to the Virtual Dome. Are you new here?"

Riku pointed back at his friends. "They are. They want to join Kingdom Hearts." He held up his pass. "I'm already part of it."

The woman nodded and walked over to a computer terminal sitting not too far off. "Well, all your friends need to do is answer a few questions and they'll be ready to enter the dome. Come see me when you are registered."

Sora didn't even wait for the woman to finish; he was already sitting in the swivel chair, clicking away on the page in front of him.

"Sora…" Riku started, coming up behind his hyperactive friend. "You are thinking this through and aren't just picking random character traits right?"

Sora nodded absently and continued clicking. "Relax Riku, I'm a whiz at games, this is a snap."

Once Kairi and Sora were registered, they headed off to find the lady to let them in the game. It took only a few minutes, and soon Sora, Kairi, and Riku all found themselves sitting in large comfortable chairs, waiting for the drop to start.

"Nervous?" Riku asked.

"Not a chance." Sora replied, gripping the leather arms of his chair. "I'm just excited."

The drop was painless, and would have been completely unnoticeable if it hadn't been for the abrupt change in scenery. One minute they were in the dome among a few hundred leather chairs, the next, they were in a town with tall brown buildings and people everywhere.

"Cool!" Sora shouted, looking down at his new character clothes and then at the surrounding scenery. "This is sooo cool! Pinch me! I must be dreaming!"

Riku sighed and grabbed his friend by the shoulder. "Calm down there, you're acting so noobish it's annoying…We're in Traverse Town, everyone starts here. It's our server city. Don't forget it, because unless you die, the only way to log out is to come to this city."

Sora nodded vigorously and pulled himself out of Riku's grip. "So what do we do first?"

"Well….we can explore the town, go out and kill stuff…the third sector here is overrun by heartless, you can start there if you want."

Sora started to run off, but was grabbed by Riku once more. "What _now_?" he complained.

Riku sighed. "Do you even know how to fight in this game?" he asked.

Sora paused. "Um….no?"

"Then head over to the training field, talk to the NPC there and he'll tell you what to do. I've got business to attend to at the Olympic Coliseum, so I'll be there ok?"

"Um…where is that?"

"…Just ask any NPC. Now you take Kairi and go, I'll see you later."

"But…"

"I said I'll see you later," Riku growled, then turned around and walked the other way. He hated to ditch Sora in Traverse Town, but he had more important things to do, besides, the brunet had said earlier that he didn't need any help.

Turning down a side alley, Riku stopped and opened a portal of darkness, a power he had obtained from joining a guild a long time ago. He rarely used the power now, but he didn't want to spend the munny to hop onto a gummi ship.

Stepping in, he made his way toward the Olympus Coliseum.

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OOO another botched one-shot…that makes how many right now?….Anywho, I like this one (As do most of the stories I start) and it will….probably turn out longer than I anticipated it to, but oh well. We'll see.

Will update other things soon, I promise.

Please R&R!

-Koji


End file.
